www.elsr.co.uk
Espresso Library Social Rides are a collective of over 100 cyclists who meet regularly for cafe rides in Cambridge, UK. There is no club, no membership, no committee and almost no hierarchy. Although a small number of riders do most of the organising and lead the rides. There is only one rule and that's 'Don't be an arsehole'. Actually, there is another one, no riders under 18 unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. There's also something about mudguards in winter...
We strive to be inclusive* and encourage new riders to join our rides. Our collective exists to facilitate group riding. Anyone can post a ride on the website, we don't care what type, how far or what time it starts. We just want people to have fun on bikes. Road, gravel, MTB, unicycle, all are welcome. If you want to start arranging Audaxes or multi-day bike packing adventures, that's great, post it on our calendar and see who turns up. There's no committee to ask permission of and no committee to tell you it's against the rules. If it's on two wheels and you're all over 18, we're cool with it.
* Sadly we can't take under 18s as we don't have the safeguarding infrastructure in place.
Where?
ELSR meet at Bean Theory Cafe (next door to Mill Works, by the Mill Pond) for the main Weekend group rides. You can access the cafe from both Newnham Road or from across Sheep's Green via Mill Lane. NB We used to meet at Espresso Library Cafe (hence the name of the collective), but that has sadly closed.
What?
We then split into groups by pace and destination before starting our regular cafe rides, which are normally around 100 km. Nearly all rides include a stop at a local cafe for coffee, cake and for the more discerning, a bacon roll. Vegetarian / Vegan options are normally available. You can see a list of our regular stops: Our Cafes.
If you want to see our groups rides over the past couple of months, you can find them here:
Fancy joining in?
We list routes and ride leaders on the website: Weekend Ride Schedule. Registered members can download the GPX files direct to their phone from the site and push it to Garmin Connect: GPX Download Guide. However, as we normally base our rides according to wind direction and weather etc, details won't normally start appearing until Thursday and sometimes the full compliment of rides isn't complete until Friday afternoon / evening. Registered members can configure email alerts, so as soon as a ride is posted a download link is sent to them. NB Registration is free and just requires an email address (and you won't receive any SPAM from this site).
There is no need to 'sign up' in advance (no one does), we just turn up and ride. New riders are welcome to turn up at the meeting point, say hello and join the rides. When you get there just ask someone to point you in the direction of the ride leader, so you can say hello . The ride leader needs to know who is joining the group before they set off, so they know how many are in the group and can check no one has been dropped etc. They may also decide to split the group in two, if the numbers are too large for a single group.
Please note that all ELSR riders will be on drop bar road bikes with narrow (25-30mm), road orientated tyres. Anyone thinking of joining riding a flat bar hybrid or mountain bike, is advised to join the Decaff ride and may well find they struggle to keep up. Road bikes are called 'road' bikes for a reason.
Please note, we have a Mandatory Kit list for all riders joining one of our group rides. Failing that, stuff to repair an inner tube or tubeless tyre and a pump will probably suffice.
Saturday - main ride
The main event is on Saturday morning. Depending on numbers, there will be anything from one to five groups departing. We normally strive to have three routes planned:
- Decaff - 70-100 km at 25 kph, chatty pace, no one will be left behind.
- Espresso - 100 km at 28-30 kph, no drop ride, will regroup after drags, hills etc. Will split into two groups if too large.
- Doppio - 100km at 30-33 kph with plenty of surging, theoretically 'no drop', but the number arriving at the cafe is always less than that which started! Will split into two groups if too large.
You can see the upcoming rides: Weekend Ride Schedule. NB Ride details normally start appearing around Thursday / Friday of each week.
Normal start time for all Saturday rides is 8.00am, but please check the start time for each ride (in the link above), as occasionally some rides will start earlier or later.
Sunday - single group
Sunday normally has a smaller turnout with a single group riding at between Decaf and Espresso pace.
You can see the upcoming rides for this weekend: Weekend Ride Schedule. NB Ride details normally start appearing around Thursday / Friday of each week.
In the winter, our Sunday rides start a little later at 9.00am, but please check the start time for each ride (in the link above), as occasionally some rides will start earlier or later.
Thursday night Chaingang / Paceline
For those of you who missed out on a UCI Pro-team contract this year, we have the next best thing. From late March till September, there is also a Chaingang. Details: Thursday Night Chaingang.
Socials
We have monthly social gatherings in local drinking establishments. The aim is to use alcohol to dilute the EPO in our blood to such an extent that we can all pass WADA drug tests. Details: Socials Schedule.
Gravel and Gravel Packing
We have quite a few decent bridleways and gravel trails in the region, more info: Cambridge Gravel Trails.
What else do we get up to?
We are a fairly eclectic bunch with a wide variety of cycling related interests, you can see some of the activities we get up to on our blog: ELSR Blog.
Team Kit
Want to look amazing on the bike? We have ELSR branded kit in both men's and women's fit: Team Kit.
Classifieds
You can now buy and sell bike parts, bikes, clothing, pretty much anything you want on our classifieds page: Classifieds.
About
This website aims to make organising group rides, from Cambridge UK, as easy as possible. The site archives GPX route files, details of cycle friendly cafes and a calendar of scheduled group rides. It is fully editable, just sign up via email, and add cafes and GPX files to the database.
If you're curious as to how this site works, you can find out here: Site Implementation.
Disclaimer
ELSR and www.elsr.co.uk are not associated with Espresso Library Cafe in any official way, we just used to meet at EL1, before it closed.
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